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TOE GOSPEL 

OF THE 

TYPICAL servitude: 

THE SUBSTANCE OF A SERMON PREACHED IN GREENFIELD, JAN. 1, 1834 



BY SAMUEL CROTHERS, 

Pastor of the Presbyterian Church, in Greenfield, Ohio. 



PUBLISHED BY THE ABOLITION SOCIETY OP PAINT VALLEY, 



HAMILTON, O. 

PRINTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE INTELLIGENCER, 
BY GARDNER & GIBBON. 

1835, 



Iflhou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve thee; and in the 1th 
year he shall go out free for nothing. Jf he came in by himself, he shall 
go mil by himself; if he were married, then his wife shall go out with him. 
If his master have given him a lofe, and she have borne him sons or 
daughters; the wife and her children shullbe her masfer^s aiid he shall go 
out by himself And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my 
vjife.uiuUny children; I willnot go out free; then his master shall bring 
him unto the judges; he shall also bring him unto the door, or unto the 
door post: and his master shall bore his ear through with an awl; and ho 
shall serve him forever. Exodus 21. 2, 6: 

Tlic Koran, wliich Mahomet gave his followers abounds with im- 
moralities and palpable contradictions. They account for it by saying 
tjjat their prophet recorded iiis revelations just as they were brought to 
him by the angel Gabriel, that they were imparted to him at ditierent 
times, during the course of twenty three years; and that in the inter- 
vals, the Almighty so frequently changed his mind, that one revela- 
tion contradicts anotlier. This convenient story is perfectly satis- 
factory to Musselmen. But all Christendom consider it sufficient 
grounds for pronouncing their prophet, before heaven and earth, a con- 
victed impostor. 

It is mortifying to be told that in the Christian church there are 
thousands, including some of our most distinguished theologians, who 
give no better account of file word of God. They assert that princi- 
ples and practices are inculcated in the old Testament which are at 
war with the morality of the new. They contend, particularly, that 
tho la.w of Moses licensed a system of servitude opposed to the 
requirempnisof the moral law, and inconsistent with the heavenly spi- 
ritl'of the Gospel. And they apologise for it by saying ihat Moses and the 
Apostles were inspired under ditlhrent dispensations!! It was the ut- 
terance of a sentiment not more revolting to a pious mind, which mo- 
ved Ilezekiahto send to Isaiah the son of Amos, a deputation of the 
Mklers of Israel clolhed in sackcloth, saying this is a day of trouble 
and of rebuke and ofbla.'i])hemy. 

Apart from all concern for the enslaved African, the emancipation 
of our churches from the dominion of the slave holding spirit is a mat- 
ter of unspeakable importance. If we do not wish to &ee the rising 
generali(m grow up a race of infidels, their minds, must be disabused 
in regard to this matter. Wo mu?t shew them that those passage.? 
which have been quoted as proofs that the morality of the bible is cor- 
rupt, and contradictory, \n\ e been grossly misunderstood. They must 
fioe that in every page of his word, God shines forth in the same glo- 
rious character; and that in every ago of the world he has required of 
his people substantially the same fiilh, and the same holiness. 

We have another inducement to study diligently the law of Moses. 
The writers of the New Testament direct all their readers to that law 
for clear and comprehensive views of the terms by which they express 
the offices, and blessings of Messiah. They tell us that he is — our 
master—our advccatc with the faher — our Redeemer— our great 



3 

High Priest; the propitiation for our sins; our Passover; the Lamb 
of God. Tiicy never (lofiiic tliesc terms. Tlicy professedly use thcni) 

"■■'-.in relation to the Sinai covenant, as terms which had been used and 
*'' understood by God's people from the beginnin^f; they would have all 

^Christians to study them in the light of the Old Testament. The ti- 
lle^ master andscrwa/ii are used with remarkable freipiency, to ex- 

■' •* press the relations existing between Christ and his followers. T.iey 
arc employed as among the most endearing appellations. The notion 
has been popular ever since the commencement of the slave trade^ 
that these terms are used in allusion to masters and servants in Greece 
and Rome, and that therefore thoir meaning must be fixed by pagan 
writers. Is it indeed true that when brethren differ as to the precise 
meaning of any of the titles of their Saviour, they must call in some po- 
lished pagan to sit as umpire? Can you make a plain sensible Chris- 
tian believe that to understand the preaching of oar Lord and his A 
postles he must employ as interpreter some heathen who had spent his 
life in worshipping the Devil, and never had one gospel idea himself, 
and whose only redeeming quality perhaps, was a taste for classical 
Greek? What aid is to be expected from men who never saw a mas- 
ter who was not a tyrant, nor a servant who was not an oppressed slave ? 
It is a historical fact that Augustus and Tiberius refused the title mas- 
ter, because it was the name of a slave-holder. They considered it 
an insult to be called by a name which designated tyrants. And, 
would it honor our glorious master in heaven to tell our children that 
lie is the antitype of tjiose who as masters were despots, and as men 
were proverbially sensual and devilish? The Apostles never slan- 
der a follower of Jesus, nor outrage hisfeelings, by applying to him 
tiie distinctive title of a slave-holder. When they passed the bounds 
of the holy land to preach the gospel in regions where the law of Moses 
had no influence, they met with slaveholders. But, although the fact 
does not appear from our translation, it is evident to every attentive 
reader of the original, that they never call them by the name (kurios)- 
which distinguished such a master as the Jewish law approved. They 
call Ihem(Despotes) despots, i. e. men who claim a power over their 
fellow men which belongs to none but the Almighty.. L Tim. 6, 1,2, 
Tit. 2, 1, 2. In a similar way they expose to public infamy the great 
patron of African slavery — by holding up to the view of the church 
and the world, his picture, as si^dirt^'- /ft the temple of God, showing 
himself as God. They never address the despots as believers or re- 
cognise them as members of the Church. They treat them as wiCiC- 
edmen. When the Apostle James, (chap. 5. 1, 15) addresses those 
who were living in the slave-holder's sin — keeping hack by fraud 
the hire of their laborers — he seems to be speaking to men at a dis- 
tance, whom it was scarcely safe to approach. It reminds us of Da- 
vid's address to Abuer, the Captain of Saul's host, at midnight — 
from the top of a hill afar off, a great space being betw een them* 

* in 1. Tim. 6, 2, tlie phrase believing despots, (masters) is used in 
reference to tlie moment of their conversion to express at once their 
past and present character. Some infer that they continued despots. 
But James tells us how Rahabihe harlot, was justified. Did she con- 
tinue a harlot.^ 



It is in allusion to the typical servitude of the law of Moses thaf 
Jesus CJirist is called our master and we his servants. We must 
tlierefore understand these statutes which regulated masters and ser- 
vants under that law, if we would have clear views of our relation and 
obligation to our Saviour. 

If thou huy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve thee, and in 
the seventh year he shall go ovl free for nothing. In Deut. 15. 13, 
14, we have this: When thou scndest him out from thee, thou shall 
not let him go away emj)ty, thou shalf furnish him liberally out of thy 
fock, and out ofthyfoor, and out of thy wine press. 

On comparing this statute with that which regulated the Jubilee, 
(Lev. 25. 39, 40,) we are met with an apparent difficulty. Here, they 
were authorised to compel a bought Hebrew to serve till the seventh 
year. There a brother who had waxed poor and been sold, could not 
become a servant at all, except in a qualified sense; and under vari- 
ous restrictions — thou shalt not compel him to serve as a servant (im- 
properly translated hond-servant;) hut as a hired servant and as a so- 
journer, he shall be with thee, and shall serve thee unto the year of Ju- 
bilee. But we have only to recollect that the one statute regulates the 
case of the first born, the landlords m Israel; the other, that of the 
younger brethren. The former, in addition to a double portion of the 
goods, were the sole inheritors of the soil; while the latter filled the- 
other departments in society, and could own houses and other proper- 
perty in walled cities. From the first promise of a Saviour, the oldest 
son was the landlord and husbandman; and excepting in case of depo- 
sition, or forfeiture of the birth-right, the younger brethren only could be 
servants. All who are acquainted with the allusions to this arrange- 
ment both in the old and new testament, know that it was tvpical. — 
It made the first-born the type of him wlio is called our elder brother 
—our kinsman or redeemer — the heir of all things — the first born of 
every creature— the first horn among many brethren; the first born from 
the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. 

Cain was the tiller of the ground, and had a pre-eminence over his 
brother, the continuance of which is promised as an inducement to do 
well — unto thee shallbehis desire, and thou shalt rule over him. But 
when Cain became an irreclaimable heretic, perseveringly rejecting 
the atonement every time lie worshipped, and at length crowned his 
wickedness witJi the crime of murder, God deposed him. He was 
told that he shotdd no longer live as the husbandman or lord of the 
soil. ''When thou tillest tiie ground, it shall not henceforth yield her 
strengtli, a fugitive, and a vagabond siialt thou be in the earth." 

Isaac was the sole heir of the promised land. To prevent any col- 
lision vvliich might grow out of the envy and ambition of his younger 
hrefhren, Abraham, while he yet lived, gave them the portions of youn- 
ger sons, and sent them away. 

The lordship over the soil, was one of the privileges connected with 
the birth right which Esau profinely sold for a mess of pottage. When 
God predicted to Rebekah, before the children wore born, that the 
younger sbould have the birth right, he said: "The elder shall serve 
tlie younger." When his father °instals him in the birth right he says: 



*'God "ivc thoc of the dew ofhcavcn, and tlic fatness of tlic cartli, and 
plcnty°of corn and wine, let people serve tliec, and nations bow down 
to thee; be lord over thy brethren, and let tJiy niother'ti sons bow down 
to thee." And when he informs Esan of wliat had been done lie says: 
"Behold I have made him thy lord, and all his brethren have 1 g'wcn to 
him for servants, and with corn and v.ine have I sustained him." 

The Sinai covenant embodies every article of faith, and every 
typical institution incorporated with the rclitrlon of the i)atri- 
archs. We nnd in that covenant no repeal of the birth-right but many 
arrangements and allusions wliich imply its continuance. Wlicn the 
holy fand was divided by lot among the sons of Jacob, the first born 
saved from destruction in Egypt by the blood of the paschal lam!) were 
llie sole heritors of the, soil. The supposition that so small a territory 
was parceled out equally among the millions who passed over Jordan, 
and subsequently divided among their numerous descendents, woull 
reduce it to a great number of little garden spots. There could be no 
such thing as farming excepting on a very unprofitable and [conteinpti- 
ble scale -no such thing as fields and vineyards, and olive yards. The 
law of the Jubilee (Lev. .25.) is predicated on the continuance of the 
birth-right privileges. The elder sons are the land-holders, they can, 
at any time, redeem their inheritances, or, at farthest, take possession 
of them in the year of jubilee; and under ro adversity can they be 
compelled to serve as bondmen or servants. 

In the statute before us the master and servant are supposed to have 
been related to each other as elder and younger brethren. The ser- 
vant has no land possession to return to in the seventh year. It is evi- 
dent he never had any, from the fact thathecould, wlien sold, be com- 
pelled to serve as a servant for a definite number of years. But the 
master has his farm and threshing floor, his vineyard and wine press, 
and his flocks and herds. Hence he can give his servant, in the year 
of freedom a liberal supply of corn, and wine and cattle. The master 
and servants here, are those who by the divine law were constituted 
types of Jesus Christ and his servants. 

The master under this typical dispensTtion was one of the first born 
in Israel whofoujid a younger brother poor and in debt. He had com- 
pa:^sionon him, and extricated him from his difficulties by buying him, 
(in the scriptural sense of the word) i.e. by paying such a sum of 
money as would secure his services for six years. He took him into 
his house and engaged to protect, and feed, and clothe him until the 
seventh year. In the meantime the man thus relieved was bound to 
labor in promoting the wealth and honor and prosperity of his maslcr'd 
liouse. 

Thus the church and the world were taught that the servants of 
Jesus Christ were generally uretched, and miserable, and poor, and 
blind, and naked. The divine law had claims against them wliich 
they had no resources to meet. But Jesus saw their perishing condi- 
tion, and had compassion on them. By taking their nature into union 
with his own, he became their kinsman, their elder brother. By Irv- 
ing down his own life, he satisfied the claims' of law and justice, and. 
ransomed them from destruction. By the calls ofhis gospel and otW»* 



means he persuaded them fo take refuge in his house. He instructs 
them by his word and spirit, and clothes them with his rirrhtcousness 
and feeds thoni %vith tlic bread of life, and protects tlieni from all their 
enemies. Hence the disciples loved to call Jesus master They alo 
ried in the title, servanls of Jesus Christ. They would not have "ex 
chan-cd It for that of Caesar. It humbled <hcm, and cheered them 
ana kept alivo ui their hearts a sense of their oblipations to the Savi' 
our who had done so great things for them. Maker and servant in 
the typical law mean all that is comprehended in saviour ai'd saved 
sinner. 

It is worthy of particular notice that the servant under this statute 
mustDert^t-imt'— a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman Dout 15 
12-a llehreio or Hebrciress, Jer. 34. 9. 'J'he term Hehrcws indu- 
ces two classes viz : the lineal descendants of Abraham, and those from 
other nations wlio entered into the congtegation, and were entitled to all 
liie privileges enjoyed by other members, including marri^ig,^ and en- 
rolment w.tJi the Jescend;mts of Abraham Hence the di,-tinctioii • 
between a Hebrew and a Hehrcw of the Hebrews, an Israelite and an- 
Israelite oj the seed of Abraham. There were other pious proselytes 
w-lio coiud not enter into the Congregation, of course could not min-y a 
Hebrew, i beso miglit become servants, but tJicir term of service vvas 
diiterent,and tiiey were regulated by a different statute Lev "^S 39 
47. _E«t every Hebrew who felt himself poor cnougirto be 
bougn. by h;s' elder brother, might bo a servant till tbe seventhyear — 
1 bus an answer is furnished to the important inquiry— who is Jesus 
Chiist able and willingtosave? Or, who may be his servants? Not 
the righteous. If you are not deeply in debt to the law of God— if you 
can get rdong witJiout hmi, you do not need a saviour. He cuno not 
lo c:-!l tao nglifcous, but sinners. He cannot save fallen antr-ls- ho 
lias made no provision for them. But if you wo.r the nature which' the 
Pon of (,od assumed, thai he might be the jirH born amon^ many bre- 
thre,i--a you are a sinful cliild of Adam, you may be a servant of 
Jesus Christ, and all that is wanting, is your cordial consent. 
This sale u-as vcluntary. 
The servant sold himself, rs the Egyptians did, who came to Joserf, 
pleading chut he would buy them for servants, and thus save them from 
perishing with hunger. 'J'he notion that the rich Hebrews were au- 
inonzcd to maue merchnndizo of their poor brethren, and sell ibein by 
force as tney d,d their catlle, speaks for itself. It would mnke the 
lioiy land the worst reg;o;i on which the sun has ever shone. With all 
IJie wickedness of this world, it is queslionable whether a country 
has ever oeen found where tbe laws of the land gave a swcepintr per- 
rniss.on to the rich to sell the poor. It isothcrwise even atr.onoMhose 
wretched hordes in Afric:!, wJio for three hundred years b ivc^ been 
waging incessant vyarfare with their neighbors, for the purpose of sup- 
plying the demand among christians for stolen men. To sell one of 
their ^wii tribe who has not forfoited his liberty by crime, is a sin pun- 
islKsdvvith death. ^ 

\V.i.r,mst keep out ofvicwthe prevailing system of .slavery In our 
own land. It IS difficult to look at it without having our minds pol- 



luted, and unfitted fertile study of tho scriplurcs. Wo must inter- 
pret the phrase — \ithoubuy a Hchreic — according lo the smnc prin- 
ciples whicli guide us in the intorprelalion of similar jjhrases. — 
If thou hvy aftld, ^r. Of whom could it be bought but its owner?— 
When Jacob heard that there was corn in Egypt, he said to his sons, 
go buy us a littlcfccd. ILippily our minds have never been defded 
by a legalized system of corn ste;ding, or trading in stolen corn. It 
never enters any man's head that tiic patriarch wished his sons to 
trade with thieves. And whom li;;s God constituted the rightful owner 
of a man's hands and feet? Were our fithers a set of political 
hypocrites when they claimed their freedom on the broad principle that 
all men are created free and cqu^l? 

Admit that the servitude here legalized was involuntary and it fol- 
lows that this typical statute was intended to hold up to view the worst 
of heresies. Jf tiie typical servant was a slave so is the servant of Je- 
sus Christ. Of course a man may be a saved sinner, and be going to 
heaven whether he will or not, wlio never loved the Lord Jesus Christ 
never felt his need of him, never wished to have any tiling to do with, 
him, but always hated both his employment and his laws. It must i-oothc 
the guilty soul of aslavc tiaderwhen marching at the head of some 
hundreds of his fellow beirig= clmined together for a distant market^ 
if he can succeed in believing ihat he is exhibiting to the world a fine 
typical illustration of tlieroiinncr in which the Son of God takes souls 
to heaven, and tliat the trade was,!nventcd at Mount Sinai for that very 
purpose. Adopt the s ave holders interpretation of this statute; and 
the moment a man opens his mouth to swallow its instruction, tlie 
slave holder's poison, like the curse so fearfully described in the book 
of Psalms, comes into hisbowels like water, andlike oil into his bones. 

The servitude atithoriscd ly this statute ^oas limited. "Six years 
shall he serve, and in tho soventh le shall go out free." 

In the law and tho -prophois, seven is the typical and perfect number. 
Every seventh day was a sabbath or rest. Every seventh month was 
distinguished for holy convocations and solemnities. Every seventh 
year was a sabbatical year, a year of resting from labor, and of releas- 
ing the poor from debts. Every seven times seven was the saljbatliof 
the jubilee. All who have carefully noticed the allusions to these sab- 
baths by inspired men, know t'lat tiiey were typical of an eternal sab- 
bath in heaven. We must not suppose that the year of freedom was 
the same to all sorvants, or the same with the sabbatical year. We 
have proof of the contrary in the fact that the year of freedom from 
servitude, and the sabbiticil year are nowhere identified. The law 
respecting servants every where says expressly — six years shall he 
serve; and the directions respecting their Ireedom are no where incor- 
porated with the regulations of the year of release from debts. It 
appears to be no more true tiiat all servants were free in the same year, 
than that all servants of J(;sus Christ arc simultaneously released 
from their master's work by death and taken to heaven. 
He shall go out free for nothing. 

An inspired apostle says that the law given at Sinai was 'our school- 
master to bring us to Cii.iit ihxt wo might bo juotificd by Ciith — wc 



8 

\vcre kfipt under the law, shut up unto the faith which should after- 
wards be revealed. One wreat design of itwaslo hedge up the Church 
on all sides, and keep her from the pathways of error. It is question- 
able whetlier the ingenuity of man can contrive a heresy plausible 
enough to disturb the peace of the Church, which is not guarded 
against by that law. Hence the sneering and opposition to the study 
of it by errorists of every name. If the new testament were universal- 
ly studied in the light of the old, one half the heresies wiiich are deso- 
lating some parts of Christendom, and much of the discrepancy ofox- 
])ression and sentiment whicli attiiis moment disturhs the harmony of 
brethren within our own borders, would perish in a night. 

The notion of earning heaven by our own works is one of (lie pro- 
minent features of every fdse religion on earth; and the love of it is in- 
terwoven with our fallen nature. God frowned on this heresy, and 
proclaimed the opposite truth, by prohibiting any price from tlie ser- 
vant as the purchase of liis rest or freedom. He shall go out free for 

nothing. When his six years were expired his plea was tJiis "I 

wasapoorman, unable to get along, but my elder brother pitied me; 
and by the payment of a sum of money delivered me from tliraldom. 
He took me into his family, and fed, and clothed, and watched over rne 
for six years. And it is the law written on the door post of his house 
that in the seventh year all his servants shall have their freedom for 
notliing." From the days of righteous Abel to the present hour, the 
servants of Jesus, whatever else they may have diflercd about have had 
the same iiope, the same plea for heaven when they came to the close 
of life . ''I am a sinner saved by grace ; Jesus saw and pitied me when 
a rebel, an outcast perishing in my sins. He gave his life a ransom 
forme. He has clot bed, and ful me, and corrected my wanderings 
and follies, and saved me out of the hands of all my enemies. And 
it is the law of his loisc that when his servants are dismissed from his 
work on carth,t]iey shall be received to the enjoyment of rest in heaven. 
He asks no price; and it is well that it is so — "I am too poor to buy 
a place in heaven,*' still the saved sinner does expect a reward. Tiie 
nature of it is illustrated by the command ia Deuteronomy. 

"Wiien thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shultnot lethiuv 
go away empty; thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and 
out of thy'floor, and odt of ihy wine press." 

No amount is specitied. It is not given as the earned wages; but as 
a gracious reward to exj)ress the benevolence of the master and to 
promote the temprMal happiness of a poor brother. The amount, 
would, of course, depend on the estimate of his services.' TJie pri- 
mary design of tiiis arrangement was to furnisli a poor man with a 
stock to commence witli wiien he received his freedom. But the ul- 
timate object was to hold up clearly tlial doctrine so much p irverted, 
yetso frequently incidcated in the scriptures, viz: — the Lord Jesus will 
bestow on all his servants a reward, not of debt but of grace, fropor- 
iionedto their services. It is culled the joy of their Lord; a crown of 
righteousness; a crown of rejoicing; a crown of life; a crown of glory. 
Our saviour tells us tb it when he shall sit on the throne of his glory^ 
he shill say to them on his riglit hand, "I was a hungered and ye gave 



9 

me meat; I was thirsty and yc gave mn clrlnk; I was a slranpcrand yc 
took mc in; naked and yc clothed me; I was sick and yc visited me; 
I was in prison and ye came unto me." This appears lo be the only 
thinfT amonp the transactions of tiuit d.iy, which will occasion any tlimg 
like°a bh.sh among the rodcenied. Wiien they shall hear such irien- 
tionofthoirpoor services— so imperfect that they could hardy bear 
them themselves; they will exchiim as with one voice : "Lord when 
saw we theeahungered nnd fcdihec? Or thirsty and gave thee drink, 
&c' And the King shall answer and say unto them: verily 1 say 
unto you, in as much as ve have done it unto one of the least ot these 
mv brethren, ye have done it unto me." An old testament prophe 
aliudin<T to the rewards and punishments to he distributed on that 
dreadful glorious dav, says: "IVLmy of them that sleep in the dust o 
the earth, shall awake, some to everhisting life, and some to shame and 
everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the bright- 
ness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as tlie 
stars for ever and ever." , .• i .,.i,;^t, 

The care manifested in this statute, not to violate the ties by winch 
tlie poor man is bound to his kindred, is worthy its origin. It any 
proof were wanting that the prevailing svstem of involuntary servi udo 
orieinaled in contempt of the authority of God, we have it m its uuer 
disregard of the strongest and most tender ties. It separates the hus- 
bandtVom his wife; and tears the lit'de infant from the breast of its 
weeping mother, with as little remorse as is usually maniiested m sc- 
paratinl cattle from their kind. Let no one say this is one of the abu- 
ses of the system. It is one of its necessary results, ^o s,ave Hol- 
der can prevent it, when his property becomes liable to/?xecution, o 
when by his death, the slaves pass into the hands of his ff ' .^"'l 
every slave holder knows this, and every slave Imlder for tne sake ot 
gain, is acting the part of a deliberate villain. The statute beio.c u^ 

breathes a dilfe rent spirit. t 1,0 ,vnvpx 

"Ifhecameinbyliimself, he shall go out by hunself; 1 ''^ weie 
married, then his wife shall go out with him. if his maslev ^^^flfl^' 
him a wife; and she have borne liim sons or daughters; ae wile and 
her children shall be her master's; and he shallgo out by ^''^^^f ; 

The master may have given him as a wife a female servant who.-e 
term commenced after his. In that case he cannot t:d;e his wiie wita 

^" Again!' wJ'rluTt' beware of mental defilement by the sin of mir 
o ,.'. . .. .1 __j, ..c (U;^ +r^i-t cnnnlv n>; a sample 



We here notice the use made of this text, simply as_ a sarnp e 



rhe 



ofthe debauching influence of familiarity with any gross sm. i^^ 
advocates torslaveholding insert the word property-, the n-ijC and clt^i- 
dren shall be her masters propcrl;;. Then they hold up the text ^ s 
most convincing proof of the lawfulness of making property of m .nt. 
S>rn of poor and defenceless females . And without remorse a Ch 1- 
an and'even Christian minister can step into the skives' n,wtnje, 
when he hears the cries of a new born mfmt and doom ^^ and t 
posteritv, through all generations to interminable slavery. A child bom 
S'ep^^^^^^^^^^^ A little infant forfeiting its unnhen- 

able\i, and entailing slavery on all its descendants down to the 



10 

sound of the last trumpet, sim])ly, b}' being bom, and because ll:<j 
manstealei' had succeeded in rivctling chains on its mother!!! Our 
Lord says: Why of your ou-nsehcs judge ye not tchat is rightl Wliy 
are all civilized nations rising up and declaring as one man, that those 
outlaws engaged in the slave trade shall die the death? That man must 
be hackneyed in deceit and export at outwitting his conscience, who, 
while he admits that making property of human beings on the coast of 
Africa ought to be piuiished with death, contends for it as a christian 
employment on his own farm. We admit that one is a more hazardous 
employment than the other; and this is tjie sum of the difference. It 
requires courage to bolt info an African vill ige at midnight and in the 
presence of those f erce warriors who sleep with their s[)cars at their 
j)illows, seize iheir little ones and dri:g them to the slave ship. But 
the most timid m:m can stop into an out-cabin and in tbc presence 
of parents who are in chains seize iheir little infant as it sleeps in the 
cradle. Can a christian hesitate m j)vonouncing on such conduct.'' 
Doth not nature itself teach you that it is a shame? How different was 
the spirit of an African princess vvheu she saw the infant of one of 
herfiither's slaves floating expose d on the river Nile. She saw the 
child, and behold ike hahc wejif, anil she had compassion on it. And 
what did she do with it? It se.-m^ .-li?; h :d tha soul of a woman. She 
sent for a nurse and said: ''Take this child away, and nurse it, and I 
will pay thee thy wages. As soon as it could be separated from the 
imrse's lap, she took it into her father's p:lace, and adopted it as her 
son, and educated him that he might one d:;y sit on the throne of Egypt. 
By thus yielding to the dictates of a benevolent heart, she saved the 
life of one of the greatest and best of men; and qualified for future 
usefulness the typical s.iviotir and lawgiver of Israel; the man who, 
centuries afterwards, wr.schcsm in heiiven, with Elias, to meet the 
son of God on the mount and talk with him of his decease which lie 
should accomplish at Jerusalem. Why do uDt Cliristians and Chris- 
tian Ministers manifest the suno spirit towards the iufmts ^of 
slaves? Why— the Bible will not let them!! Sometimes the apo- 
logy is; "we arc so unf jrtunnte that our circumstances will not permit 
us to abandon this unpleasant business.'" Or as it is sometimes, still 
more handsomely expressed; "si ivo holding is our misfortune, not 
our crime." By thus using the soft heathenish terms misfortune and 
««/br<?/reate, they avoid shocking pious eirs with the profanity of say- 
ing in plain terms, that God in hisoverrnliiig providence compels thcra 
to live in a damning sin. Wc here simply remark that the man who 
is so unfortunate that he cannot cease from a known sin, is too unfor- 
tunate to be a Christian; and ho must calculate on a great run of 
good lucJc, if he expects enough of it to lake him to heaven in his 
wickedness. 

The statute before us, ia all its bearing.^, is wise, and merciful, and 
worthy of its author. It i.- im[)lied lhitat>malc servant could be dis- 
posed of in marriage only by her master; tint if she have children they 
must remain with her, under his cue till she is free; and that she must 
not in any event, leave him till the term of service expires. In all 
this, it harmonises with the laws of Ohio and every free slate where 



persons, iimong us, be in circumstances wliicli make it needful or pro- 
per, our laws provide that they may be indented to some one who w.U 
be to them a master in tlu; good sense of tlie term. The inden- 
ture will call him masterand them servants. It will expressly stipu- 
late that they shall not marry nor contract marriage without his per- 
mission, during the term of service. And in every country wiiere the 
gospel has its inllucnce, the heart of a mother is not permitted to be 
broken, nor the soul of a child jeopardized, by their separation. The 
fruits of any other arrangement would bo frightful. We all know 
how much the future welfare and chaiacfcr of a child depend on a 
mother's care. If any one will show it the patli to lieaven and cau- 
tion it against those bye-ways which lead to ruin, surely its mother 
will. The French philosophers might havcbci^n successful in making 
France a great den of Atheists, had they,ir: addition to the abolition of 
the sabbath, succeeded in depriving mothers of the privilege of instruc- 
ting their own children. Lotus analyze thi;5 passage more particu- 
larly. 

"A maid servant must not, in any event, leave her master before the 
term of service expired." If she were given in marriage <o a fellow 
servant whose term commenced before heis, he will be free before 
licr. But even for the sake of her husband, she must not defraud her 
master. The typical meaning of (his is oI)vious from the frequent al- 
lusions to it in tiie new testament to illustrate this important truth, viz : 
the claims of Jesus Christ on those servants icliom he has bought with 
his hlood,, are paramount. "Ye are bought with a price; be not ye 
the servants ot men." Ye are bought with a price; therefore glo- 
rify God in your bodies and spirits wiiich are God's." The doctrine 
which the Saviour preached on this subject is plain and unequivocal. 
"If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, 
and children, and breihren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he 
cannot be my disciple. And whosoever doth not bear his cross and 
come after me, cannot be my disciple," It is not the least evil of sla- 
very that it has corrupted the theology and morals of the Church. — 
Slave holding Christians have been tlie first, and so far as we know, 
they are the only professed followers of Jesus who opeidy avow it, that 
tlie paramount considerations with a christian should be his ease,hi3 pro- 
perty, his safety and his life. In the same breath with which they ac- 
knowledge the injustice of holding a fellow man in bondage, they 
will apologise by gravely telling you that all their funds are invested 
in the bones and sinews of their fellow men, and emancipation would 
make them poor; or that regard for the safety of their lives justifies 
them in dying slave holders. According to their system there never 
ought to have been such a thing as dying or even sutiering to avoid sin; 
according to them all the martyrs from the days of Abel to the pre- 
sent hour, died as the fool dieth. How'diflcrentiy the primitive chris- 
tians viewed the matter. "With them, the .man who dishonored God 
or injured his fellow to avoid sacrifice, was an apostate. No allure- 
ments or threats could turn them aside from owning and serving their 
S«iviour. Their kindred might disown them; their enjemics might take 



from them all their goods; ihey might crucify them, burn them at the 
stake, or saw them asunder, but they could not desert their master's 
service till he released them by death. In this they were followers 
of him who when he became a sarvant teas obedient even unto death. 

"The release of the servant shall not impair the claims of the wife 
and chiUlrea on their master." 

In this were typified the claims of the widows of God's servants 
and the claims of children of the covenant, on the God of their fathers. 
In God's covenant with Abraham he engaged to be the God of belie- 
vers and their seed. This promise secures to them all necessary tem- 
poral things, and the means of grace with, [of course] the offer of sal- 
vation through a Redeemer, Old testament saints seem to have clear- 
ly understood this principle— no event can impair the claims of a wi- 
dow or orphan wliose husband or lather was a servant of God. We 
oficn hear them bringing forward their claims on God, as the children 
of his servants. And they do it interms which have an evident allu- 
sion to this statute — the wife and children shall he the master's. Thus 
David prays: "O Lord I am tliy servant; 1 am thy servant, the son of 
thine handmaid; Ps. 116. — 16. "Thou art he who took me out of the 
womb; thou didst make me to hope when I was on my mother's breasts. 
I was cast upon thee from the Vv^omb, thou art my God from my 
motlier'g belly. Ps. 22 — 9, 1. When he was a feeble old man, una- 
ble to help or protect himself, his enemies gathered round him and 
said; *'God hath forsaken, persecute and take him; for there is none to 
deliver him." But he calls to the God of his mother and his plea is 
— 'Thou art he that took me from my mother's bowels — thou art my 
trust from my youth— now also when I am old and grey headed, O 
God forsake mcnot. Ps.71. We are thus taught the important truth 
already stated. 

When the Lord Jesus releases a servant from Ms work and takes 
him to his rest, he will tide care of his wife and children. The ha- 
bitual belief of this would save christians, and christian ministers from 
many anxious hours and many temptations of the Devil. "What will 
become of my family when lam gone" — is the cry of many worldly 
professors, and in many instances it istlieir apology for robbing God. — 
Tlie tempter often whispers into the ear — "to provide for one's own is 
a christian duty; your devotednessto the master's work, will leave no- 
thing to keep your family from beggary when you are dead." And 
he often succeeds in making christians worthless servants through 
fear of their femily coming to want. A few years since, what was 
cn.\\ed the ividoio''s fund was in great repute in some churches. Hun- 
dreds of dollars v/hich might Iiave been well employed in the instruc- 
tion of their families, and in promoting the cause of the Redeemer, 
were deposited in that fund to save their families ^rom dependence. — 
It is worthy of remark that this institution was most popular when pro- 
fessors were doing nothing but providing for themselves. It is ques- 
tionable whether any widow or orphan ever was the better for such 
an institution. God's pla^ is, attend diligently to the master's work 
till the term of service expires, and thus you will leave your wife and 
children rich in claims on Uie bank of heaven. "Leave thy fatherless 



children, I will preserve (hem alive; and let lliy widows trust in me."' 
Jer.49 — 11. And tiic whole history of Cod's i)rovi(lence attests his 
faithfulness. An instance of the widow and children of a pious ser- 
vant of God coming to want and suflcring, never has been seen. Many 
hundred years after God proclaimed from JMounl Sinai that when tho 
servant is dismissed, the master shall take care of his fiimily, David 
was directed to record his testimony to the divine faithfulness: ''I 
have been young and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous 
forsaken nor his seed begging bread." Ps. 37. — 24. We have seen 
pious widows and their families poor and afflicted. We Ih'.vo seen 
them reduced to a temporary dependence on friends. But no man 
ever saw them forsaken, or compelled to beg Iheir bread from door to 
door. We read (2, Kings 4, 2.) of a widow, in the days of Ahab and 
Jezebel, whose situation seemed desperate. Ilcr husband, a prophet, 
too pious to desert his master's work to secure a fortune for his fami- 
ly, had died insolvent. Under laws framed by rnen wliose tender 
mercies were cruel, the creditor had come to seize her fatherless chil- 
dren to make them bond-men. But just at the moment when a sneer- 
ing intidel might be ready to say — "where is the God of the widow 
and fatherless?" — the prophet Elisha arrives to relieve her by miracle. . 
When Elijah reached the gate of Zarephath in a time of famine, he 
met a pious and poor widow who had come out to gather a few stickg 
to bake the last handful of meal in her house, that she and her only 
child might eat, and lie down and die. But Elijah's very business was 
to release that poor widow= True, we may not in these times expect 
miracles. But the God of the widow and fatherless has other ways of 
taking care of the families of his servants besides miracles. 

The children, with the mother, shall be the maste'rs. They are not 
his servants. Perhaps they never will be. They are simply the chil- 
dren of liis servants. 

God's covenant secures to the children of his servants the means of 
salvation. Hence they were to be circumcised on the eighth day.- 
We are told that this rite was a seal of the righteons?iess of faith; and 
that its advantages were rmich every way ; chief y because that unto them 
were committed the oracles of God. Rom. 2. — 3. The Aposlle Peter 
assures us that these privileges are still continued to the children of 
God's servants. Rom. 2 — 38, 39. The Apostle Paul in deciding a 
question about which the Corinthians had written to him, (11 Cor. 7, 
13,) teaches that children of a believing father or mother «re/ioZ^. — 
And the term holy like all the technical terms of the new testament 
must be interpreted by reference to the law of Moses. 

The blessings which parents secure for their children by becoming 
servants of God, is a subject too much neglected. It is the doctrine 
of God's word, confirmed by his providence, that there is more proba- 
bility of their salvation than of otliers. Examine the register of any 
church twenty years old, and you will find that a large proportion of 
the members were the children of God's servants. Generally the pro- 
portion is as ten to one; frequently as ninet} -nine to a hundred. It 
is as true of them as of any otliers, he that belicveth not shall be damn- 
ed. But the God of their fathers will not let them go easily to hell. 
B 



J nj wjii jiiusui^ ijiuiii juiiy, wiui lui:: <^aiio \j i ill c guBjJCjj wiui vnaai.Bt:- 

incnts, and tlic strivings of his spirit. 

The manner in wliich lie followed the ten tribes of Israel, for cen- 
turies, through all their wanderings, and their high-handed wickedness, 
is worthy of particular notice. When those tribes with Jeroboam the 
son of Nebat at their head, set up their golden calves, and built their 
rebel altar, and thus openly renounced the Saviour typified by the 
altar at Jerusalem, he would not let them go. After warning them 
(1. Kings 13.) that God would kindle the fire of hell on those who 
served and trusted in any Saviour typified by their altar, he resorted to 
a course of chastisement like that which brought the prodigal son to 
say : "I will arise and go to my fatlier, and will say unto him him : Fa- 
ther I have sinned against heaven and before thee." He withdraws 
the restraints of his providence, and for a while, gives them up to their 
wickedness. In the mean time he warns Jeroboam and Israel that he 
was about to inflict judgment which would show all future genera- 
tions, that no common wrath awaits the ringleaders in apostacy and 
schism. The prophet Ahijah was commanded to deliver this message : 
''I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and Will cut off from 
Jeroboam every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and 
will take avvny the remnant of the house of Jeroboam as a man takcth 
away dung till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam, in the 
city, shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls 
of the air eat; for the Lord hath spoken it." But one event must first 
take place. Jeroboam had a son, a youth in whom was found some 
good thing toward the Lord God of Isi-ael. Such was his general 
character for amiableness; and so high were the hopes of his future 
usefulness, that when he died, all Israel mourned for Mm. That 
young man must first come to his grave in peace; and till then God 
would spare his father's house. But soon after the death of young 
Abijah, a scene commenced which has no parellel in modern times; 
unless we except the reign of atheism in France. In about twenty 
seven years from the death of Jeroboam they had seven kings. Near- 
ly all of them died violent deaths; and most of them were devoured by 
dogs. One, in a fit of desperation, commits suicide by burning his 
palace over his head. Another is slain by his servants while drinking 
himself drunk in the house of his steward. A third is assassinated in 
camp at the siege of Gil)bethon . And generally before the uproar and 
confusion have subsided the dogs have devoured the dead body. — 
Through all the variety of dispensations of judgment and mercy, they 
Irequenlly enjoyed the ministrations of such men as Ahijah, and Jehu 
the son of Ilanani and Elijah, and Elisha, And though they refused 
to return, God continued for centuries to assert his claim on them as 
the children of his servants. Nearly all his messages to them are 
prefaced witli: thus saith the Lord God of Israel. And even when 
the Son of God was about to ascend to his father, he remembered 
those rebellious children of the covenant; and charged his disciple? 
to go and preach to them the remission of sins, before they went to 
the Gentiles. 

The same principle is illustrated in the history of Benjamin and 



15 

Judah. Tlicy killed the prophets, and stoned those that were sent 
unto them, Tiiey crucified the Lord of glory, and insulted him while 
hanging on the cross, hy inakingsport of his power to save tiieni. But 
the Saviour prayed for their forgiveness; and afterwards charged his 
discijjles to preach the gospel to them before any others. The apos- 
tle Peter thus assigns the reason — "ye are the children of the pro- 
phets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying 
unto Abraham: And in Ihy seed sliall all the kingdoms of the earth 
be blessed. Unto you first, God having raised up his son Jesus, sent 
him to blcs-f you in turning away every one of you from his iniqui- 
ties." Acts 3. 25, 26. 

Let no one, however, deceive himself by trusting in his relation to 
any of God's servants for the salvation of his soul. We have Ahralunn 
for our father —IS recorded as the hope of hypocrites. It was a child of 
the covenant who lifted up his eyes in torment and smo Abraham afar 
off and Lazarus in his bosom. He calls Abraham father, and the pa- 
triarch owns the kindred by calling him his son. And although for the 
sake oftlieir fathers, and his own covenant he would not give up the 
imbelioving Jews when they hcd betrayed and murdered the Messiah: 
Yet wjien they took their stand between the Saviour and perishing 
sinners, and forbade the Apostles to preach to the Gentiles he did give 
them up,ajuZ xcrath came upon fhcm to the uttermost. 1. Thess. 2 — 16. 
Woe to that land where teaching any class of sinners to read the bible, 
and assembling them to hear the gospel preached, is made a crime to 
be punished at the whipping post, or in prison, or in tltc penitentiary, 
or on tiie gallows. The man who supposes that God will not visit for 
that sin, is grossly ignorant of the scriptures, or he is an infidel. That 
minister of tlie gospel who can take his stand between the enslaved Af- 
ricans and the fountain of life to keep them oil' by preTenting them 
from reading or hearing the gospel, or teach others to do so; that min- 
ister, with all his profane and nonsensical apologies, is a scandal to his ■ 
office. He is bantering the Almighty; and one of two things is just 
Jis certain as tjiat there is a God wiio has promised to execute judg- 
ment for the oppressed. He will repent and put away his wickedness; 
or fear shall come uponhim as a desolation, and destruction as a whirl- 
toind- The mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 

In the close of this statute provision is made to render the painful 
separation of a Hebrew man from his wife and children unnecessary. 
This is what might be expected from a statute framed in heaven. The 
law of God given by Moses, and the slave laws of our land are, in this 
and many other respects, just as opposite, and as wide asunder as hea- 
ven and hell. It seems, the servants velation to his master ceased with 
the expiration of the sixth year. Of course he may form a new con- 
nexion; but it must be of a different kind. He is not in debt, nor 
pinched with poverty. He hasjust received a liberal supply of corn, 
and wine, and cattle. He cannot become a type of the poor, servant 
of Jesus. But he may by an extraordinury process, become a type of 
that glorious servant who, being in the form of God, thought it not rob- 
bery to be equal with God, but made himself of no reputation, and took 
upon him the form of a servant, for the sake oHiis bride, his wife, as 



16 

his church is called. In allusion to the fact that the love of Christ for 
Jus cliurch was typified by the Jove of the Hebrew servant for his wife 
^:ml cJuidren, the love of the Saviour, and the love of husbands are 
olten noticed in the New Testament as parallels. "Husbands love 
3 our wives even as Christ also loved the church, &c." 

''If the servant shall plainly say, 1 love my master, mv wife, and mv 
judlreT"* '' °^S° out free; then shall his master bring him unto the 

It must be plainly said, and clearly understood that he was not forced 
o\ necessity; but influenced by motives similar to those of the son of 
.^od vviicn he became a servant— love of his father, and his church — 
t.k n^ ulTf r ^^«"g^^^'^«f«r« the judges? Not to prevent the 
taking advantage of a poor man. That was not necessery in the first 
Justance when the parties were comparative strangers. And surely 
n IS less necessary now, when after an experience of six voars he has 
ound that hislate master is a good man, and ^Aaf it was well with him 
m Ins house. We repeat it, this extraordinary procedure was typi.nl 
o! fJie extraordinary manner in which Jesus was subjected to the law 
as a servant for our sakes. 

tl,r!v'nr''^°' '^'"'^1 ^"> '"''" "" the judges, >.e shall also bring him to 
tlmdooi, or unto the door post, and thrust his ear through With an 

We here notice as an illustration of the slave holding spirit, the use 
made of this passage in a late zealous defence of slavery. The writer 
appeals to this statute with apparent triumph for proof tJiat the Hebrews 
were allowed to make slaves of their brethren. "Yes (said he)the Lord 
direclco them to bring up their slaves to the door post and in pre- 
sence of the magistrates, mark them in the ear with an awl, just as we 
mark our cattle." _ The hor.ibic assumption is ihaf when God gave 
iorlh his statute from Mount Sinai, his ultimate object was to assist 
save holders in making beasts of their children! The truth is, the 
s ave holding spirit is the spirit of a devil, it can trample under foot 
tlie rigJitsof the poor, and trade even in the bodies and souls of the 
redeemed: and with a fiendish recklessness, tell the young and the io-- 
iiorant, that the typical ordinances of the Old Testament were divine 
licenses to live in high handed wickedness. 

To understand the direction here given, we must recollect that the 
Hebrews were required to write the law on their gates and on the door 
posts of their houses. When a stranger arrived at the premises of an 
Jsraelite, the first thing which met his eye was the law given at Sinai 
vyntten on the gate. Thus he was warned that the inhabitants feared 
IhfMjod oi Abraham; that all who set their feet within that gate must 

* VVe must interpret the law of Moses as we interpret every staTute 
bojk. lo ascertain the law in any case, we must bring into view the 
or.guial enactment, an i all the subsequent additions or supplements. 
J^xodusil taken separately, would cut ofT the servant from his liberal 
supply ofcorn and wine and cattle. Dent. 15 viewed alone, ffives aa 
imperfect view of the servants plea for having his ear bored. But ta- 

^'."5 rl."''"'-!.'''^'^'^^"'' ^'-^ ''^'^ tl'^-ee inducements-love of Lis 
master, of hjs Wife, and of his children. 



17 

reverence his law; and that no one who indulged in tlic violation of it 
could be entertained there. When he readied tlic house he saw on 
the door post, the same law as the rule for the headrf of the family, for 
theirsons and daughters, their man servants and maid servants and the 
stranger witiiin their gates. The sei-vant was to bo brought up to the 
door or to the post on which the law was written, and his ear laid to 
that post, and bored through with an awl. Thus in an extraordinary 
manner lie was subjected to that law as a servant in that house. 

That we are not mistaken in viewing this transaction as typical of 
Jesus subjecting himself to the Liw as a servant in his fathers house, 
for the redemption of his church; is evident from the allusion to it, 
Ps. 40 — 3. "Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ear 
thou hast opened." Or as we have it in the old version of the Psalms 
of David, "mine ear thou hast bored." It is admitted that David uses a 
different word from that which Moses here employs. But it is also 
true that Moses himself adopts a dilferent one when ho repeats this 
statute, Deut. 15. And it is equally true that Paul[tleb. 10: 5] when 
he quotes the psalmist, uses a phraseology different from them both. 
He says: a body has tliou prepared me. We are told that the Apostle 
here follows the Soptuagmt. And some writers witli their usual reck- 
lessness add, that the Apostles, to show the respect due to existing 
translations, often quote the Septuaginl when it expresses ideas entirely 
different from those of the original. That is, they quote the old testa- 
ment by not quoting it all ; and they do so, to show how much we should 
respect bad translations. It is true, they often do not confine them- 
selves to the words of the old Testament in their quotations. But 
they never follow the Septuagint excepting when it gives tlie spirit and 
sum of the original text, so fiir as they wish to quote it. But what is 
meant by God's preparing the^body or human nature of his son? This 
question is answered Gal. 44, "he was made under the law." The law 
which his church was under had no claims on him. As God, he was 
the author of it; and his human nature alone was not his person. His 
situation was typified by that of the Hebrew whose wife was under a 
law having no claims on him as a servant in the seventh year. Jesus, 
that he might redeem his Church, was marZc MHtZcr ZAe Zaw; put under ■ 
it by an extraordinary constitution, typified by boring the Hebrew's 
ear. 

And he shall serve him forever.* — All but Unive.salists admit that 
/orcjjcr is a definite term; and all who are acquainted with the bible 
know that itsometimes means duration strictly eternal, end sometimes 
defined portions of time. It always means throughout the term; and 
what that term is, must be ascertained from the connexion. It is used 

* We have seen the old Bible, whicli appeared to have been, original- 
ly, the properly of the great-grand-fatlier. taken down from the high- 
shelf to settle the dispute about slave holding, by rejding — and he shall 
serve him forever. "Yes God Almighty allows me to hold my slaves/or- 
ever, and that is long enough for me." And then after some warm en- 
comiums on the privileges o{ Ihat old dispensation, the good book was put 
back on the same high shelf, to be taken dosvn again, should a similar 
occasion ever n.ake it necessary. 



18 

express the duration of God's existence, of the misery of the wick- 
;d, ofthe happiness of the righteous, the whole of the Mosaic dispen- 
ation, and tliat under which Melchizedeck ministered. It will not be 
)retended that cither of tliese is its meaning in tlie statute before us. 
t cannot mean until the jubilee. The jubilee is not here named; nor 
s there any allusion made to it in the context. It cannot mean for 
ife. Such an interpretaiion would make the law defeat its own de- 
ilgn. The object in subjecting the Hebrew, by boring his ear was to 
)revent separation from his wife. To make him a servant for life while 
he in a few years will be free, would increase the difficulty. Such a 
blunder would disgrace the most ignorant legislative body on earth. — 
:5ut we must remember that tiiis statute was framed by infinite wis- 
lom. Forever, in this place, means neith.cr more nor less than thro'- 
)Ut the terra of years wJiich created the dilliculty, or which remain, of 
he wife's servitude. At farthest it cannot be a longer terra than that 
)fthe Saviour\s public miriistry. 

From this brief analysis ofthe statute before us, the following parti- 
culars are obvious. The master and servant were originally related 
Lo each other as elder and younger brethren. They were types of Je- 
ms Christ our elder brother, and hi.^ servants. The kindness ofthe 
Dldcr in delivering a younger brother from thraldom by the payment of 

1 sum of money, and taking him unto his household, and protecting 
ind feeding and clothing hira till the seventh year, prefigured the love 
jf Jesus in giving Jiis life a ransom for sinners, and all that gracious 
work by which he saves and fits them for heaven. The sale on the 
p-\rt ofthe servant was voluntary, and the term of service limited. — 
His going out free for nothing in the seventh year, and the liberal sup- 
ply which he received frora his master, exhibited to the church and 
the world, the terms on which all the servants of Jesus Christ are admit- 
t-^d to rest in heaven, when dismissed from the master's work on eartii, 
and the nature of the reward lie will bestow. The care manifested 
in this typical statute to prevent the master from being defrauded of 
the services of any of his servants before the year of freedom, illus- 
trates the paramount claims of our master in heaven. The hold which 
it gives a female servant or her master for protection «fc food & raiment, 
when her husband is released before her, presents a cheering view of 
the claims of all pious widows on their own God and the God of their 
husbands. And the privileges of all children of the covenant are stri- 
kingly exhibited in the care whicli the master was bound to exercise 
over the children of the deceased servant until their relation to liim 
was dissolved by the freedom of their mother. The love of the servant 
to his master, and his wife and children, expressed by putting In'mself 
under the law by which they were ijound until their release, pointed to 
the love which that glorious servant the son of God should in due time 
manifest to his father and his church, by voluntarily i)utting himself 
under the law for her redemption. The extraordinary ceremony of 
boring the servant's ear intimated that the law which the church w-as 
under had naturally no claims on God incarnate, and that he must be 
put under it by an extraordinary constitution. And unless the hus- 
band's becoming a servant the second time increased the difficulty which 



19 

it was intended to remove, it is unnifest that the term foukvku here 
means, neither more nor less, than the years which yctvcinained of ills 
wife's term of service. 

In conclusion J tiiero are three iiKiniries wliich force tjiemselves on 
the mind of every thinking num. Do our churches need cleansing from 
tlie defilement of the sin of slave holding? By what means are they 
to be cleansed? And by w^iioni are these means to he used? 

Let us decide these matters in the light of tlie law of iMoscs. All 
such enquiries are answered plainly and uneciuivocaily Ijy the law re- 
specting dead bodies, which were liie types of dead works. Numb. 19. 
A dead body in a tent defiled every person, and every uncovered ves- 
sel in tiiat tent; a cleansing could be efiected only by the water of sep- 
aration, sprinkled with cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop; and this 
sprinkling could be done only by a clean person. 

1. Our churclics arc defiled hy this sin, and they must he. clainscd. 
— That loathesoine carcass, slaveholding, has been lying in the ciiurcii 
for more than three hundred years. In the eyes of many it is a pest to 
the church's sacred furniture. Tiicre are hundreds and thousands of 
professed chrislians who will not permit it to be removed or disturbed. 
An attempt to sell the ark of tlie covenant would not have produced 
greater convulsions in Israel, than an attempt to remove slavery from 
some of our churches. Every person and every vessel is polluted. — 
Many of our members and ministers have grown grey in tli's sin. — 
Some of them have acquired splendid fortunes by buying and selling 
the members of the Saviour's mystical body. If our children in Sab- 
bath schools and theological seminaries use some of the popular helps 
for understanding the word of God, they must believe that Abraham 
was a thief; that the Old Testament church was a den of licensed inan- 
stealers; that many of the statutes given at Mount Sinai, instead of 
being the shadows of good things to come, were intended merely to en- 
courage and regulate the slave trade; and that the traffic in bodies and 
souls, which the best and the worst men on earth execrate as sinful in 
principle and ruinous in its results, is a divine institution. Let no 
one say, the churches in our free states are clean. They are parts of a 
defiled house. And it is a fact, that the most corrupt and corrujjting 
sentiments in relation to this sulyect are just as rife in our fiee slates 
as in any part of the Union. It indicates an unthinking mind to say 
we have nothing to do with slavery. Admit that it is a christian duty 
to abandon two millions of Africans, and their descendants, lo intermi- 
nable oppression; admit that the religion of Jesus requires us to bid 
God speed to those vvjio are forbidding them to read and liear the word 
of life, and are thus killing their souls to facilitate the work of enslav- 
ing their bodies; still we ourselves have souls, and our ciiildren and 
neighbors have souls, and the soul-destroying leprosy is in our church- 
es; and the question whether they shall be cleansed or not is a ques- 
tion of life and death. 

2. Thetcord of God is the great means to be used in cleansing our 
churches. — it is in vain to think of persuading a slaveholder to aban- 
don his iniquity, by talking to him of its cruelties, so long as you admit 
that it is autiiorised by the Bible. A sheriU'may be as merciful andde- 



20 

vout while hanging the murderer by the ncciv till he is dead, as the 
man who is weeping at a distance through the whole scene. 'He wiH 
consider all tiiat you can say about the cruelly of taking away life as 
out of place, so long as he believes that it is the la^v of God and his 
country: "He that sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood bo 
shed." The world would have abandoned the sin of slaveholdin" long 
ago, had not the churches stepped forward and, with tlie Bible in their 
hands, clamorously asserted that it is a divine institution. The man 
who, by a noise about cruelty, endeavors to enlist public feeling against 
any thmg which God has clearly instituted or commanded, is°I,eating 
up rebellion against his Maker. If any part of the word authorise? 
mvohmtary, hereditary and perpetual servitude, slaveholders are doin^r 
their duty, and emancipators ouglitto be suspended from the commu*^ 
nion of the church. It is lawful to employ every good argument on 
this subject; but the word of God must be brought to bear on men's 
consciences. His owj) word is tlie sceptre which the Almighty sways 
over our fallen world, and the great means by which he keeps it in or- 
der; and those who fancy themselves infidels are more under its con- 
trolling influence than they are aware, or willing to admit. 

As christians, it is unseemly ever to think of cleansing our churches 
without the word of God. By cleansing a church polluted with sla- 
very, we do not mean driving away tho.hated Africans, or persuadina 
men to abandon an unprofitable sin. By cleansing our churches we 
mean putting away the sin of oppression, and obtaining forgiveness 
from God through the application of the blood of Jesus, and cleansing 
from defilement by the sanctifying influence of the Holy Ghost. Any 
thing short of this will leave our cimrch an unclean house. And yet 
tJjcreare men, and even christian ministers who denounce, as fanatics 
and incendiaries, ail wlio insist on any thing more than the removal of 
the Africans, Slaveholders and their apologists are the only profes- 
sors of the christian religion on earth who openly avow the damnable 
heresy, that it is enough to cease from the prnctice of sin, and, in any 
case, imprudent to urge sinners to flee to the high priest for cleansino-. 
According to their maxim, when a horse thief draws back from steal- 
mg because he sees the eye of a witness upon him, he is converted, 
and needs neither pardon norsanctification to fit him for heaven. That 
minister of the gospel who intentionally and deliberately shuns to de- 
clare to his people that every known sin must be abandoned, and that, 
for every transgression, they must seek pardon through the blood ot" 
atonement, and sanctification by the Spirit of God, or lose their souls; 
that minister, whether he means so or not, is acting the part of a trai- 
tor towards God, and a murderer of the souls committed to his care. 

The word of God, that humble, yet excellent and powerful means 
of cleansing from sin, was symbolized under the law, by a bunch of 
hyssop tied to a stem of cedar by scarlet wool. That was the only in- 
strument to be used in sprinkling atoning blood and the water of separ- 
ation on tJie unclean. Our Lord (Johnxvii. 17) does not pray for the 
sanctification of bclievcis in any other way than through the instrumcn- 



21 

tality of the word; and surely that is tJio means which God will bless.*^ 
3. By ivhom arc the means to he used for cleansing our churches from 
the guilt and defilement of the sin of Slaveryl We answer those es- 
pecially whose hands are clean, or have been cleansed ; and we 
add tiuit in the free states is the place to preach against this sin. We 
are often told — go the South and preach against slavery. Sometimes 
this is malignant banter. " Go tlie South, where my brother, the slave- 
holder can hear you, and he will take your life." But if the scenes 
which lately disgraced some of our Atlantic states, be tests of the 
spirit of the North, it would l)e cowardice to flee to the South. It is 
in the free states that a minister of the gospel must put his life in his 
liands if Jic dares fosavehissoulby telling his hearers that man stealing] 

* Tiie apostle Paiil(l Cor. i. 23,24) notices three distinguisliing fea- 
tures of tliat word of God wliich tlie [loly Spirit uses in applying the 
Saviour's blood : His humble (foolishness to the world;) it is the wisdom cf 
God; and it is the power of God. We shall, perhaps, provoke the reader'i 
pity when we say that these three characteristics were symbolized by 
the hyssop, and cedar, and sc.ulet wool used in sprinkling the typical 
blood. "Solomon spake of trees from the cedar that is in Lebanon, 
even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall." Amouj^ the sub- 
lime objects in the Holy Land were those tall cedars on the top of Leb- 
anoa, hiding their heads in the heavens. Hence we hear of the "height 
of the cedars," and of the "goodly cedars." The church, in describing- 
her Saviour, says — "his countenance is excellent as the cedars." The 
hyssop was humblc~it would grow any whore, even out of the wall.— 
But, notwithstanding its apparaut meanness, it was most sweetly fra- 
grant, and possessed many medicinal properties. Of scarlet wool were 
made the robes worn by kings, as tlie emblem of power. Hence a 
mop of hyssop tied to a stem of cedar with scarlet wool was a suitable 
emblem of the humble, yet sublime and powerful, word of God, 

Perhaps this note will only furnish employment for those expositois 
who are too polite to laugh when Jesus Christ and his apostles speak of 
Moses as a shadow of good things to come; yet find it convenient to 
soothe their vanity, and excuse their ignorance by snoermg at ali at- 
tempts to find either wisdom or meaning in any thing which they them- 
selves do not understand. 

Perhaps some of the advocates of slavery, as has been threatened, will 
undertake to put down abolition, by proving that this interpretation is 
fanciful; or that Dickey, in his review, was wrong in saying tlie oldest 
son was lord of the soil. We should be pleased to see the attempt made. 
It would have, at least, as piuch bearing on the question of slavery as 
pulling down churches. But we advise them to take care. A mischiev- 
ous boy once succeeded in robbing an orchard by laying in the dog's way 
a crooked horn filled with butter. 

+ We have conversed with more than one theologian who, though com- 
pelled to acknowledge that seizing the person of a neighbor and compell- 
ing him to labor for us without wages, is the sin which the bible calls 
man-stealing, j et insist that it is imprudent to say so!! Such squeamish- 
ness about calling things by their right names reminds us, of a congrega 
tion who threatened their pastor witii a u ithdrawal of the stipend, unless 
he ceased to call them sinners. Accordingly he agreed to adopt the 
phrase, "Ladies and Gentlemen." The result was tiiey never quarrell- 
ed. How could they.? The people continued to pay the stipend, and the 
preacher continued to be a mere appendage to society for its amusement 
on the sabbath day. 



22 

is a sin against God. Preaching to slave liolders is nearly a hopeless 
business. Our grandfathers preached to drunkards all their lives, and 
many of them on tlieir death beds had not the satisfaction of knowinfr 
that they had ever been instrumental in the reformation of a single 
drunkard. At length their cJiildren thought of preaching to the tem- 
perate, and of persuading them to combine their testimony against the 
common use of ardent spirits. The result all Christendom knows.— 
If slave holders are ever brought to blush for the sin of oppression, it 
will be by the united remonstrance of those who can lift up clean 
hands. 

None but a clean person could use the water and hyssop so as to 
cleanse a defiled person or house. Numb. 19, 18. It is not only the 
doctrine of the Bible but a dictate of plain common sense, that no man 
can impart to his neighbor principles purer than those which he posses- 
ses himself How long would it take grocers and distillers to preach 
our churches into strict temperance? It is ai:i evidence of the stulti- 
fying influence of the slave holding spirit that there is a great outcry, 
among slave holders, against the inhabitants of the free States for med- 
dling with the sin of slavery. This is perhaps the only subject they 
wish to monopolize; and the reason is obvious — they could manage it 
to their own pleasing. And how long would it take them to preach 
that the sin in question was practised by Abraham and the primitive 
Christians, legalised by Moses, and worked at by our Lord and his 
Apostles, before these people will repent and cry for mercy? A slave- 
holding Minister preaching against slavery is solemn mockery. 

Finally— «/«".s typicaliastitution contains glad tidings for all who are 
jyerishing in sin. Are there any present who feel that they are poor, 
deeply in debt to fh? law of God, and in themselves helpless and hope- 
less? An inspired Apostle with his eye fixed on the law of typical 
servitude, declares (Horn. 14 — d.) ih:\t Jesus both died, and rose, and 
revived that he might be the master {Lord,) both of the dead and the 
living I. e. that he might do for them all that was typified of old by the 
oTice of a master— that he might pay off all their debts, and do for 
them all that is needful till they are finally admitted to the enjoyment 
of rest in heaven. Jn allusion to this statute he himseli invites sinners 
to seek their salvation in him and thus states the terms: — If any man 
serve me, let himfulloiD me, and wh'dre I am, there shall my servant be: 
if any man serve me, him will my father honor. John 12j~26. 



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